On Monday night, two matches in Group B of the European Championship in Germany had a significant impact on the fate of the Hungarian national team, and the results were favourable for Hungary. Spain played against Albania, while in the other Group B match, Croatia faced Italy. The formula for Hungary was simple: neither Albania nor Croatia could win.
Spain were already at the top of their group before the match, so national team captain Luis de la Fuente made ten changes to his starting line-up from the previous round, resting his first-choice players. Despite these changes, Spain still dominated the match, with Ferran Torres scoring in the 13th minute, which was a promising start from a Hungarian perspective. The situation remained favourable for Hungary as the match progressed, as the Albanians, despite having several chances to score, failed to capitalize on them and ultimately lost 0–1.
For the Italians, a draw was sufficient to secure their place, while the Croatians needed a win to have any hope of moving into the knock-out stage. The game was varied and fast-paced with few chances, but in the 55th minute, it took an unfortunate turn: Croatia were awarded a penalty for a handball. However, captain Luka Modric’s penalty was saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma. Almost immediately afterwards, Croatia attacked again. Donnarumma made an incredible save following a close-range effort from Ante Budimir, but the ball rebounded to Modric, who fired it into the net from four metres out.
The game then took a turn, with Azzurri going for an all-out attack, which ultimately brought the desired result.
In the final moments of the eight minutes of extra time, Mattia Zaccagni, who had come on as a substitute shortly before, curled a beautiful shot into the top left corner of the Croatian goal, making the final score 1–1.
Fortune was once again on Hungary’s side, just as it was when Kevin Csoboth netted in the 99th minute of a counter-attack against the Scots on Sunday, keeping their hopes of progressing from the group alive. And this progress could be decided today. In Group C, leaders England will play third-placed Slovenia, and
if the English side wins, Hungary will advance to the round of 16.
This is only the second time that England and Slovenia have met in a major tournament, with the former winning 1–0 in the group stage of the 2010 World Cup. In all their encounters, England have won five with one drawn. England are currently in first place with 4 points, but in some scenarios, they could slip back to third place, so the game is not without stakes for them either.
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